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From connected medical devices to workstations on wheels (WoWs) and Vocera Badges, seamless connectivity is essential for patient care and operational efficiency. This article explores the devices that rely on Wi-Fi in hospitals, the challenges of managing growing demand, and how solutions like 7SIGNAL can help ensure uninterrupted connectivity across all systems.
Included in this article (click the links to jump to relevant section):
- What Is a Connected Medical Device?
- Wi-Fi-Dependent Devices in Healthcare Facilities
- The Growing Challenge of Wi-Fi Demand
- 7SIGNAL: A Wi-Fi Optimization Solution for Healthcare
Focus on patient care, not troubleshooting Wi-Fi: Learn more about 7SIGNAL.
What Is a Connected Medical Device?
A connected medical device—or smart medical device—is any piece of medical equipment that relies on wireless or wired internet connectivity to operate or communicate data. In particular, they leverage wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks to ensure fast, mobile, and reliable connectivity.
Connected medical devices form the practical part of the “Internet of Medical Things” (IoMT), where medical devices, software, and healthcare systems are interconnected to gather, transmit, and analyze patient health data. As a consequence, they are crucial in modern healthcare settings for monitoring, diagnosing, and treating patients. They help streamline patient care, improve outcomes, and enable more accurate real-time decision-making.
However, these devices rely on continuous connectivity to function properly and deliver the benefits of digital healthcare.
Examples of Connected Devices:
- IoT-enabled devices such as heart monitors, infusion pumps, and wearable health trackers. These devices collect and transmit real-time patient data, which is crucial for monitoring patient health.
- Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) and other imaging systems, which store and transfer large medical images, such as MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays, between departments.
- Smart pumps, which deliver precise doses of medication or fluids to patients, connected to centralized systems for oversight and adjustments.
Wi-Fi-Dependent Devices in Healthcare Facilities
Let’s dive a little deeper. In this section, we focus on some of the most common Wi-Fi dependent devices in healthcare facilities. This is the subset of connected medical devices that rely on robust and well-managed Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks to operate effectively.
Broadly speaking, these devices fall into five categories:
- Medical Devices
- Mobile Devices
- Workstations on Wheels (WoWs)
- Telemedicine and Video Conferencing
- Patient and Guest Wi-Fi
1. Medical Devices
Many medical devices used in modern hospitals are now Wi-Fi-enabled, including patient monitors, ECG machines, PACs, infusion pumps, and even surgical robots. These devices collect patient data and send it to central systems for analysis, requiring strong, reliable Wi-Fi networks to operate effectively.
Common connected medical devices:
- Wearables, such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, glucose monitors, insulin pumps, and remote patient monitoring systems.
- Implantable cardiac devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators.
- Infusion pumps for delivering fluids into a patient's body in a controlled manner.
- Cold chain monitoring for sensitive medications.
- And other common devices, such as X-Ray machines and portable ultrasounds.
2. Mobile Devices
Tablets, smartphones, smart badges (such as Vocera Badges), and laptops are widely used by healthcare providers for accessing Electronic Health Records (EHR), communicating with colleagues, and viewing patient information. They are essential for enabling nurses, doctors, and staff to stay connected in real time—especially when they’re moving throughout the facility.
3. Workstations on Wheels (WoWs)
WoWs are portable computer carts used in medical settings. They’re battery-powered, lightweight, and enable healthcare providers to bring their work and devices wherever they’re needed in a healthcare facility—particularly to patient bedsides. They make it easier for caregivers to access patient records, update health information, and communicate with other staff while on the go.
Common Wi-Fi-powered WoW features:
- Mounted laptops or tablets
- Barcode scanners
- Printers
4. Telemedicine and Video Conferencing
Telemedicine solutions and remote consultations require robust Wi-Fi connections for video calls, sharing medical data, and ensuring continuity of care. These applications have become especially prevalent in the post-COVID era as they facilitate face-to-face consultations for immunocompromised patients, patients in rural areas, and patients who simply have busy daily schedules.
Telehealth devices—which refers to any device employed to deliver healthcare services remotely—range from simple webcams to digital stethoscopes and wearables. These solutions make it possible for healthcare providers to interact with patients remotely, enabling medical examinations, vital sign analysis, and other consultations or treatments.
Common telemedicine solutions:
- Telehealth peripherals: Peripherals are devices separate from laptops, tablets, or smartphones that collect and transmit high definition audio, video, images, and other health data. For example: high-definition cameras, digital otoscopes, dermatoscopes, and cameras.
- Wearables: These include fitness trackers, blood pressure monitors, glucose meters, and pulse oximeters.
- Mobile health apps: These apps empower patients to monitor their own health, track symptoms, communicate with healthcare providers, and access educational resources.
- Telehealth accessories: Webcams, microphones, headphones and privacy screens, enhance the audiovisual quality and privacy of virtual consultations.
5. Patient and Guest Wi-Fi
Providing Wi-Fi for patients and visitors is now a standard offering in many healthcare facilities. Although not directly tied to medical operations, guest Wi-Fi usage can create congestion and competition for bandwidth, impacting more critical systems and devices.
The Growing Challenge of Wi-Fi Demand
So, what are the challenges associated with keeping all these devices connected? In short:
- Increasing Device Numbers
- Bandwidth Requirements
- Interference in Healthcare Settings
- Impact of Network Congestion
1. Increasing Device Numbers
As more medical devices, mobile devices, and telemedicine tools enter healthcare environments, the demand for Wi-Fi grows. The sheer number of devices competing for bandwidth can create bottlenecks, leading to poor network performance and connectivity issues.
To address this, you’ll need to conduct a comprehensive device audit—identify connected devices, assess device density, analyze current capacity, etc. This will help you upgrade your network infrastructure and optimize network configurations.
In addition, deploying Wi-Fi performance monitoring tools, complete with proactive alerts and real-time performance insights, will help you identify and address device overload with load balancing practices.
2. Bandwidth Requirements
Devices like medical imaging systems (e.g., MRI, CT scans) require substantial bandwidth to transmit high-resolution images. Similarly, other devices, like infusion pumps and smart monitoring systems, need continuous, low-latency connections to operate effectively.
If you’re having connectivity challenges, it’s often helpful to assess (or re-assess) your bandwidth needs. Take inventory of bandwidth-hungry devices, calculate the average and peak bandwidth requirements for critical systems and applications, and account for overlapping device usage during peak hours. This will help you ensure adequate bandwidth allocation even during periods of high demand.
Implementing and enforcing Quality of Service (QoS) policies is also important. This includes prioritizing critical traffic, establishing bandwidth reservations, and optimizing QoS to minimize latency for devices requiring real-time data transmission, such as smart monitoring systems and infusion pumps.
3. Interference in Healthcare Settings
Hospitals are filled with electronic equipment that can interfere with Wi-Fi signals, such as diagnostic machines, patient monitoring systems, and even metal structures within the building. These factors can lead to signal degradation, weak spots, and dead zones within the facility, undermining the performance of connected devices.
To address these challenges, conduct a site survey. Perform a Wi-Fi heatmap analysis, identify sources of interference, and assess the RF environment.
Additionally, you should focus on AP optimization. This entails AP placement, settings, and, in areas with concentrated interference, deploying directional antennas to focus the signal to reduce interference from surrounding equipment.
4. Impact of Network Congestion
Wi-Fi congestion can result in slow speeds, connectivity drops, and delays in data transmission. In critical healthcare settings, this can lead to significant disruptions in patient care, errors in medical data entry, and delayed decision-making, all of which can affect patient outcomes.
There are a number of ways to address congestion, ranging from optimizing your environment to expanding coverage and capacity. The best approach often depends on your budget, but a good place to start is with Wi-Fi optimization solutions like 7SIGNAL.
7SIGNAL: A Wi-Fi Optimization SOlution for Healthcare and Connected Medical Devices
In healthcare, reliable Wi-Fi is a mission-critical resource. From patient registration to staff communication, seamless connectivity underpins every aspect of hospital operations. However, managing medical-grade networks comes with unique challenges: troubleshooting complex issues, optimizing performance for growing device ecosystems, and ensuring proactive monitoring to prevent disruptions.
7SIGNAL’s enterprise Wi-Fi optimization platform provides healthcare organizations with the tools they need to overcome these challenges. By offering features like KPI dashboards, automated alerts, and client-specific insights, 7SIGNAL helps IT teams identify root causes of connectivity issues, streamline troubleshooting, and optimize performance for essential workflows. The platform empowers hospitals to ensure robust, efficient networks that support patient care, staff productivity, and long-term strategic goals.
Whether it's diagnosing end-user errors, enabling seamless device roaming, or generating actionable reports for leadership, 7SIGNAL’s solutions ensure that healthcare IT teams stay ahead of network demands. By proactively addressing connectivity pain points, hospitals can focus on delivering exceptional care, not on resolving Wi-Fi disruptions. With 7SIGNAL, your network becomes a strategic asset, enabling better patient experiences and operational efficiency.
Learn More From the 7SIGNAL Experts
We’re always here to answer your Wi-Fi questions at 7SIGNAL. Our enterprise Wi-Fi optimization platform helps you plan and execute a healthier network. Contact us to learn more.
7SIGNAL® is the leader in enterprise Wi-Fi optimization, providing insight into wireless networks and control over Wi-Fi performance so businesses and organizations can thrive. Our cloud-based platform continually tests and measures Wi-Fi performance at the edges of the network, enabling fast solutions to digital experience issues and stronger connections for mission-critical users, devices, and applications. Learn more at www.7signal.com.